Cuban Population Showed Slight Increase in 2009

In statements to Granma newspaper, Director of the Population and Development Studies Center, Juan Carlos Alfonso Fraga, said the growth, though slight, is still remarkable as it shows a halt in the decreasing trend.
He explained that from the demographic point of view, the number does not represent a significant change because over the last years the variation on the population from one year to another has been very low.

Alfonso said that in the recently concluded year, the number of live births was 130,027, the highest since 2004, while the average number of children per woman at the end of her reproductive life increased to 1,63.

Meanwhile, the emigration level was similar to previous years, while the death rate was higher in 2009 as a result of the aging process of the Cuban population.
Regarding the current population, Alfonso said nearly 5,61 million are women while 5,63 million are men, and more than 17 percent of the population is 60 years or older, meaning that close to two million people are senior citizens.